Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!auspex!yuping
From: yuping@auspex.auspex.com (YuPing Cheng)
Newsgroups: comp.periphs
Subject: Re: exabyte record size limit
Message-ID: <6061@auspex.auspex.com>
Date: 15 Feb 91 17:51:48 GMT
References: <1991Feb8.154740.11155@helios.physics.utoronto.ca> <10080003@hpcpbla.HP.COM>
Organization: Auspex Systems, Santa Clara
Lines: 14

In article <10080003@hpcpbla.HP.COM> kev@hpcpbla.HP.COM (Kevin Jones) writes:
>> All SCSI tape drives I have seen limit the maximum variable length
>> record size to what can be held in the drive controllers data buffer.
>
>HP's DAT drives allow record sizes up to 16777215 bytes.
>(Thats 0xFFFFFF hex). This is for fixed or variable.
>

A properly designed SCSI tape device should not limit its maximum block
size by its buffer size.  When the buffer is full, a controller can always
disconnect from the SCSI bus and reconnects later when there are sufficient
room in the buffer.  At reconnect the data transfer continues.

Yu-Ping Cheng, Auspex Systems Inc., ycheng@auspex.com